Darithi asked, noticing the girl had already cleaned up most of the table.
Her stomach, oddly enough, didn't look the slightest bit bloated—as if everything had vanished into a bottomless pit. The sheet still clung to her curves, outlining her flat stomach, the gentle flare of her hips, the weight of her breasts pressing against the fabric.
Darithi said nothing about such a show of hunger from Thalia. She understood the value of food, having been raised similarly.
Her master, afflicted with hypogeusia, had very little taste for food and had hired the best chefs in the world—some with superpowers that enhanced their cooking.
"I can't eat more than this," Thalia said reluctantly, having had her fill. She looked at Darithi and added, "Just bring some ice cream. Half a kilo will do..."
"..."
"One can never guess someone's nature by their looks alone, can they, Thalia?" Cruxius said with a faint smile, watching her. Black hair cascading over bare shoulders, emerald eyes bright despite exhaustion, a gorgeous body marked by red hickeys that dotted her collarbone and neck, lips stained with spices—a beautiful woman feasting like a beast.
She was glamorous with a hunger equal to who knows how many sumo wrestlers.
"Of course they can't. Handsome, gentleman-looking hyenas are everywhere—bringing drugged women to their beds with zero sanity," Thalia jabbed back, clearly picking up on his sarcasm and returning the favor with interest.
"...Sanity is overrated anyway. One look at you, and even a monk would start stuttering—beauty like that should come with a warning label." Cruxius stood from his chair, stretching as he walked toward her.
He was starting to understand why she had taken over the Blac family and proved herself in just five years in his past life.
"There is a label, Mister—Tha. Lia." she said, hearing the man talk in that annoyingly sweet tone after what he'd done to her last night.
She couldn't remember it all—too drugged—but her aching body screamed the truth.
As Cruxius approached, he reached out casually—too casually—and his hand went straight to her chest.
His palm cupped her breast through the sheet, thumb brushing over where her nipple pressed against the fabric.
"*Ah—*" Thalia's mouth twitched, a sharp intake of breath cutting off whatever she was about to say.
"Why are you naked though?" Cruxius asked casually, as if his hand wasn't currently fondling her breast, his thumb now rubbing slow circles over her hardening nipple through the silk.
The sheet slipped lower with the motion, exposing more of her cleavage, the soft weight of her breast filling his palm perfectly.
"F-First," Thalia's voice wavered slightly, but she didn't pull away. Her eyes narrowed at him, mouth twitching between indignation and something else. "Because you and that woman already saw more than just me being naked."
His hand shifted, lifting the underside of her breast slightly—weighing it, testing it—with absolutely no shame. His fingers pressed into the soft flesh, thumb still working her nipple until it was a hard peak beneath the fabric.
"And second," she continued, voice strained but determined, "you didn't even offer me clothes—mine were shredded. It's like you want me to stay like this."
She held his gaze, even as his hand continued its shameless exploration. As if she'd surrendered to her fate. As if fighting it would be pointless.
"I'll bring the clothes," Darithi suddenly realized her oversight, bowed, and left the room without another word—completely unbothered by what she'd just witnessed.
"So, she really forgot," Thalia sighed, shaking her head. Her breast jiggled slightly in his hand with the motion.
From Darithi's behavior, she could tell that she wasn't the first woman to end up in this man's bed.
Probably so many that the woman named Darithi had grown too used to it.
"Yeah, it happens every time," Cruxius nodded, finally releasing her breast—though not before giving it one last squeeze that made her gasp softly. He returned to his seat, picking up his phone and searching for a number he could never forget.
Ordering food from the one restaurant where even he could feel some taste.
Not the fancy junk those 'chefs' whipped up. He just wanted something made by Lira.
"...How many women have you slept with before me?" Thalia asked, reacting to his casual tone. It was unnerving—talking to a naked woman like it was normal.
As if he had become too familiar with her body, which erased the thrill.
"Maybe a hundred? Who even keeps count?" Cruxius replied honestly. He didn't know what his past self was—trash or just another young playboy.
But he didn't lie. Not to her. Not after what he'd seen of her.
'!?'
"You know... you're more disgusting than a pig." Thalia visibly frowned, pulling the sheet tighter around her body, her eyes twitching at his shamelessness.
"Oink?" Cruxius smirked, eyes still glued to the phone.
"Pfft, what was that for?" Thalia, caught off guard, chuckled. She hadn't expected him to actually oink like a pig.
Until now, he had seemed... different. Too composed, too calm.
It confused her.
He should've been disgusting—after all, he brought her here in a drugged state and claimed her like she was his.
But he wasn't disgusting.
Not really.
He was rich—clearly so—so he should've been arrogant, yet there wasn't any trace of that typical rich-boy pride.
He carried himself with a casual calmness, not the kind of stupid confidence men got from thinking with their dicks, but something else—something sharper. Smarter.
And now? He was... flirting? With that weird sense of humor?
If there was one word to describe his character, it would be: confusing.
No single pattern. No clear read.
"You called me a pig, Thalia. I just wanted to show you..." he paused, voice dropping low—before a grin spread across his face as he finally looked up at her.
"...even pigs can make you moan."
'....H-he...'
Thalia sat there, speechless for the first time in her life. Her words stuck in her throat as heat flooded her cheeks. She averted her gaze, murmuring softly, "You won...but at what cost, pig."
But even as she said it, a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.